HRC Blog

Support Resolution for Municipal Equality in Dallas

Mayor Mike Rawlings has delayed a city council vote on a resolution that would allow city administrators to address the city's inequalities in city employment.

This resolution was recommended to the city council last week by the Budget, Finance, and Audit committee following testimony from Fort Worth City Councilmember Joel Burns and Cathryn Oakley, HRC's legislative counsel for state and municipal advocacy. The matters addressed by the resolution include addressing disparities in pension plans and HR policies and taking other actions to improve the city's score on the Municipal Equality Index.

Unfortunately, the resolution was pulled from the city council agenda by the mayor and will instead go to the City Attorney's office for additional review. If you live in Dallas, please contact your city councilperson and encourage them to pass the full resolution without modifications. Making these changes will help Dallas compete with peer cities like Atlanta, Austin, Portland, Phoenix, Saint Louis, Kansas City, Fort Worth, and San Antonio - all of whom had higher scores on the MEI than did Dallas. If you are able to attend the city council meeting on Wednesday morning at 9am, please do and wear red to show your support for the resolution.

Cities across the country are showing leadership on matters of equality where states and the federal government have failed to act, municipalities have stepped up. HRC’s Municipal Equality Index demonstrates the ways that many cities can – and do – serve the LGBT people who live and work in those cities. Read the Municipal Equality Index report here, and click here to see the detailed scorecards for the 291 cities the MEI rated in 2013. Dallas' scorecard is available here.